Solution for the treatment of iron or steel.



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT HAYES, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO CABNOT DEVELOPMENT CORPORA TION, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

SOLUTION FOR THE TREATMENT OF ,IRON 0B STEEL.

No Drawing.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT HAYES, a citlzen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Solutions for the Treatment of Iron or Steel, of which the following is a description.

My invention relates to a solution for the treatment of iron or steel for the purpose of imparting: to it increased toughness or tensile strength. v

It is well known that in the treatment of steel by heating and quenching in ii uid the result produced is somewhat depen ent on the character of the liquid in which the treated steel is quenche for instance, if the treated steel 13 quenched in oil, the result is different item that p. oduced liy quenching it in water at the same heat. t has also been found {that if certain chemicals are added to the w ter in which the heated steel is quenched, a difl'erent result is produced from that pr duced by quenching it in water not havin such chemicals in solution. Various chem al solutions have been proposed and variou results as re ards improvement of the stel, particular 51 as regards toughness o'r tensile strength have een secured. It is t e object of my present invention to produce a solution for the treatment of steel or iron y heating and quenchg by the use of which, b a single operat n, the toughness or tensi e strength of the steel or iigm will be greatly increased.

With t ese objects in view, my invention consists in the solutitin hereinafter described and claimed.

The charactaiistic element oi the solution of my present invention is flu rin, but for the best results I use this in a golution containiing also sal ammoniac, chlorid of sodium (comm n salt) and chlorin and generate the fiuorin! in the solution mm a fluorid. such as fiuorspar, by the addition of hydrochloric acid.

In preparing the solution for the treatment of steel or iron, I die 1v three ounces of sal a niac and'thre noes of common salt in a gallon of water and add to this 'one-twentieth oi an unce' of fiuorid such as powdered flu r sp r, and then add about two per centJ-of muriatic (hydr chlorie) ucid and 0:31! the solution to abotit 150 Fahre.

Specification of Letters Patent.

the mill and without red heat, say from 3011' to 00 degrees Fahrenheit, being careful to it and add as much Patented Sept. 25, 1917.

Application filed March 31, 1916. Serial No. 88,047.

chlorin in the form of gas or liquefied as the solution will take up. The solution is then ready for use.

In carrying out my process, I heat the steel or iron to be treated as it comes from special hardening or an ailing to a low see that it is heated throughout to the same te perature, and then I quench it in the solution. The result of quenching it in the solution is a rearrangement of the molecules and probably also a change in their composition throughout the mass of the metal so that the ,metal will present. a fibrous appearance and can be broken onl with great difficulty, its tensile stren l i bein very greatly increased. By regulating the eat of the solution between, say 98 de ees and 200 degrees Fahrenheit, I am ab e by the single quenching to give steel a hard or soft temper, so that no reheating is necessary for annealing or hardening. Steel so treated ma however, be reheated for tempering wit out destroying the fibrous character imparted to it by quenching in the solution.

The solution used as above described afi'ects the entire mass of the steel or iron subjected to its action, rovided, of course, it is uniformly heated roughout its mass. If it is desired to have the metal made tough and fibrous only exteriorl leaving the Interior crystalline, this resu t may be brought about by heating it until the exterior only is brought to a low red-heat while the interior is less highly heated and then quenching it in the solution. a

The fluorin set free by the action of the hydrochloric acid or by the chlorin or by the combined action of the acid and the chlorin on,the fluorid used seems to have a permanent eifect upon the silica present in the steel or iron either to dissolve it out or to change its character so as to leave the steel or iron free frombrittleness. It is possible also that the fiuorin ma produce its effect by its action on the and r present in is modi ed and facilitated by the pres nce of the chlonn. Y

be understood that I do It will, of course, not desire to be limited to.the precise pro ortions of the chemicals above stated as it is suflieim-nt to use them in approxinmtely the proportions stated without weighing.

1 do not claim herein the process of treating steel or iron above described nor the product obtained by suvh treatment, as the process and product form the subject-matter of a separate application filed by me March 31, 1916, Serial No. 88,046.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim is:

l. A solution for the treatment of iron or steel containing hydrochloric acid, free chi'm'in and a substance capahie'of yielding fluorin.

2. A solution for the treatment of iron or teel containing chlorid of sodium, hydrochloric acid, free ehloriu and a substance capable of yielding fluorin.

3. A solution for the treatment of iron or 20 steel containin sal-amlnoniae, chlorid of sodium, hydroc loric acid, free chlorin and a substance capable of yielding fiuorin.

This specification signed and witnessed this 29th day of Mareh, A. D. 1916.

I ALBERT HAYES. 

